


Roses But No Thorns

by tjmystic



Series: Birthday Fics [6]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-08
Updated: 2013-02-08
Packaged: 2017-11-28 13:54:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/675145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tjmystic/pseuds/tjmystic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mr. Gold introduces Belle to e-readers</p>
            </blockquote>





	Roses But No Thorns

Roses But No Thorns  
Birthday Fic #5

Rating: PG-13, but just because I’m paranoid - the worst thing that happens is a barely graphic makeout scene

midstorm prompted: Rumple introduces Belle to e-readers

Author’s Note: This story takes place sometime during episode 2x2 or 2x3 when Belle is immediately new to Storybrooke and modern technology. As such, this is a naively optimistic and fluffy fic (well, for me anyway), but alas, no smut :(

 

“Rumple, what is this?”

“What’s what, love?”

Mr. Gold spun around, dust rag in one hand and cane in the other. It was a new experience for him to actually enjoy answering questions, especially when they came every two seconds. But then, maybe he just enjoyed Belle – having her back, having her with him, still hadn’t quite sunk in yet, so every moment with her contained that blissfully surprised ecstasy. He’d almost forgotten he could feel that kind of happiness. 

“It’s not something you’re selling, I don’t think,” Belle answered, her voice muffled by the curtain in-between them. “It’s a… some sort of rectangular tablet? Perhaps silver? And there’s this button on the – oh gods!”

He ripped the curtain back, ready to fight off whatever monster his Belle had unleashed. Instead, he found her clutching his e-reader, eyes rapt with excitement as the dull screen came to life. 

“Oh, that,” he sighed in relief. “It’s called a Kindle.”

“Like firewood?” she asked, turning it confusedly to the side.

Mr. Gold tried not to smirk at her. He had a feeling she wouldn’t appreciate being patronized. “Not exactly. But you can keep it, if you wish. You’ll likely get more use from it than I do.”

“And why’s that?”

“Because,” he couldn’t help playing up the theatrics, drawing one arm tight around her until she laughed and circling the other about his Kindle with a vivid flourish, “it is a miniature, portable library.” 

Belle’s eyes widened as the screen displayed the many books he’d downloaded - histories, fantasies, crime drama, noir. Even a romance or two, which he would firmly deny having read should she ask. 

“And they’re all here?” Belle asked in awe, pressing her finger against the screen. He smiled - safe now since he was behind her and she couldn’t see his face - and moved her hand to the tiny pad on the right. 

“All just a click away, love.”

She picked up the mechanics instantly, scanning through his collection before deciding on a “Beauty and the Beast” retelling (one of many, he was loathe to admit - he always had been something of a masochist). A minor complaint about the tiny font - which he quickly adjusted - and a question about the various buttons on the keypad later, Belle was deeply absorbed in the story and ignorant of everything else. He squeezed her once more about the waist and hobbled back to the front desk, feeling as close to a king as he ever had. Finally, he’d found something to keep his Belle happy. Finally, he’d found something she could gladly accept from him.

“I’ll leave you to it, then,” he sighed, admiring her profile from afar. Even in a charcoal dress that hung from her shoulders like a sack, she was far and away the most gorgeous woman he’d ever seen. He had to remind himself to breathe before he choked, asphyxiating from her radiance.

But the bell out front rang. He checked once more that she was still alright (or, more accurately, he gave his eyes another fill before he was deprived), and stumbled back out, whistling as he went.

———————————————————————————————————————-

“Another day, another dolt,” Mr. Gold groaned, massaging the bridge of his nose as he fished out his keys from the counter. Damn near everyone in the town should be sending his Belle a fruit basket for making him promise not to kill anyone.

“Ready to head home, Belle?”

No one answered. Suspecting the worst yet again, he lurched behind the curtain, already pulling magic from the thin air around him. But he needn’t have bothered - his Belle was safe and sound and wrapped up in the book on her lap. 

He was so relieved to see her unharmed that it took him a few seconds to notice what was wrong with the picture. She was thumbing through a dog-eared book - another from his personal collection, of course - his Kindle long since forgotten at her side.

“Belle?”

Belle jumped nearly a solid foot in the air, briefly tipping the chair as she struggled to right herself. His hand was already braced on the armrest, though, ready to catch her at a moment’s notice. God knew he’d let her fall enough for five lifetimes. 

“Sorry, Rum,” she wheezed, an almost-laugh still covered by her shock. ”Just let me finish this chapter and we can head right home.”

“I see you preferred the paperback to the electronic version.” He cursed himself for the bitterness in his voice. Whether or not she liked his gift had nothing to do with her feelings for him. 

And his Belle was much too observant. 

“It’s neat,” she said slowly, either because she was looking for the right words or was afraid of offending him. He sincerely hoped it was the former – his Belle should never censor herself around him. “It is, truly. But it rather ruins the effect of reading a book, don’t you think?” 

His face fell - she didn’t like his gift. He thought he’d finally proved his love to her, but it was nothing more or less than his usual failures. 

“I’m not sure I understand, Belle,” he answered, again fighting back his childish hurt. 

“Well, you can’t turn the pages on a Kindle.”

“No papercuts,” he argued. 

Belle smiled and set her book down, shimmying towards him in a way that made his mouth water. 

“You can’t feel the cover,” she whispered.

She was almost in front of him now. ”The graphics make the design look better.”

Her lips caressed his ear. ”You can’t smell the paper.”

He honestly didn’t have an answer to that. In fact, he’d rather forgotten what he was trying to argue in the first place. 

“It’s like a rose that doesn’t have any thorns. Perhaps it’s prettier,” she traced his face, “perhaps it doesn’t hurt you the first time you touch it,” he leaned in desperately for her touch, pressing his lips against her thumb, “but it loses something in the process. It loses so many of the reasons I fell in love with it in the first place.”

She drew him in with her free hand, curling the strands of his hair about her fingers so she could kiss him even deeper. Lord above but he’d never tire of her taste - he would feast on her lips alone if he could. 

“You do know you’re my rose, right?” she giggled, accepting his tongue without a thought. He swirled it along her teeth, moaning and gripping her closer in the process. 

“I rather thought it was the other way around,” he eventually managed, nibbling on that lovely bowed upper lip of hers. ”You’re far more lovely.”

She smiled and batted him away, giving them both a necessary break for air. ”The point’s the same either way. All I know is that, without all of our bad moments, the good ones wouldn’t be special.” She gave him another quick kiss and cuddled into his chest. ”And they are so special to me. You’re special to me.”

He didn’t spare her theory another thought as they walked home, hand in hand like the tentative couple they were. But when she read to him that night - from a book, not his Kindle - petting his hair as he lay in her lap, he found that he didn’t particularly care if his rose had thorns or not. So long as Belle was here, and real, and no longer in pain, they could damn well be whatever they wanted.


End file.
